SPHYRAENA OBTUSATA - (CUVIER, 1829)
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Carangiformes (Order) > Centropomoidei (Suborder) > Sphyraenidae (Family) > Sphyraena (Genus)
Barracuda obtu, Bécune obtuse, Sphyrène à mâchoire obtuse, Barracuda à bande dorée, Obtuse barracuda, Yellowtail Barracuda, Striped Barracuda, Dingo Fish, Short-Finned Seapike, Short-Jawed Sea-Pike, Short-Finned Sea-Pike, Yellowstripe Barracuda, Daruma-kamasu, だるまーカマス, 창꼬치, 鈍魣,
Synonymes
Sphyraena aureoflammea (Seale, 1910)
Sphyraena brachygnathos (Bleeker, 1855)
Sphyraena brachygnathus (Bleeker, 1855)
Sphyraena chinensis (Lacepède, 1803)
Sphyraena grandisquamis (Steindachner, 1866)
Sphyraena langsar (Bleeker, 1855)
Sphyraena lineata (Stead, 1908)
Sphyraena obtusa (Cuvier, 1829)
Sphyraena strenua (De Vis, 1883)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9-10 (usually: 9); Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 9; Pectoral fin rays: 11-13; Pelvic fin rays: I,5; Lateral line scale: 78-85; Scales above lateral line: 5.0-7.5; Scales below lateral line: 8.5-9.5. Scales on the line from posterior margin of eye to preopercular edge: 5-7; Gill rakers: 1 + 1. Body elongate, subcylindrical. Body depth: 6.2-8.3 in SL; Snout long, pointed; Posterior tip of maxilla just reaching to or extending beyond anterior nostril. Posterior tip of opercle rounded, obtuse above level of pectoral-fin base. Caudal peduncle low, moderately compressed. Caudal fin forked. Pelvic-fin origin anterior to origin of first dorsal fin. A single row of scales in the suborbital groove covered with skin. Max. length: 55.0 cm TL; Common length: 30.0 cm TL. Depth range: 5 - 200 m.
Color
Head and body dark green dorsally, silverry white below; Body with two faint yellowishbrown longitudinal stripes (when fresh); Lower stripe running through upper end of pectoral fin; Lower stripe overlapping lateral line on posterior half of caudal peduncle; First dorsal fin membrane entirely transpararent; Anal and pelvic fins transparent; Pectoral fin dusky, with a dark margin on base; Caudal fin yellow, greenish near base, entire margin dusky.
Etymology
Sphyraena: derived from the Greek, sphura = stinger, stake. Aristotle mentions the name of this fish only once (book IX - History of animals - chapter II). The name refers to the "muffle that he made like a stake".
obtusata: from Latin, obtūsus = blunt, dull, obtuse. Referring to how it lacks (or retains a slight vestige of) the pointed prominence that terminates the lower jaw in some congeners, so that the end of the jaw is obtuse.
Original description: Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier, 1829 - Type locality: Puducherry, India.
Distribution
Red Sea, Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, South Africa, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mascarenes and Persian Gulf east to Samoa, north to southern Japan and Korea, south to Lord Howe Islands and New Caledonia.
Biology
Inhabits bays and estuaries. Found in schools in seagrass beds and rocky reefs. Voracious carnivores that actively hunt small fishes. Exhibits diurnal behavior. Also caught with set nets. Sold fresh, frozen or dried salted in markets.
Similar species
Barracuda obtu, Bécune obtuse, Sphyrène à mâchoire obtuse, Barracuda à bande dorée, Obtuse barracuda, Yellowtail Barracuda, Striped Barracuda, Dingo Fish, Short-Finned Seapike, Short-Jawed Sea-Pike, Short-Finned Sea-Pike, Yellowstripe Barracuda, Daruma-kamasu, だるまーカマス, 창꼬치, 鈍魣,
Synonymes
Sphyraena aureoflammea (Seale, 1910)
Sphyraena brachygnathos (Bleeker, 1855)
Sphyraena brachygnathus (Bleeker, 1855)
Sphyraena chinensis (Lacepède, 1803)
Sphyraena grandisquamis (Steindachner, 1866)
Sphyraena langsar (Bleeker, 1855)
Sphyraena lineata (Stead, 1908)
Sphyraena obtusa (Cuvier, 1829)
Sphyraena strenua (De Vis, 1883)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9-10 (usually: 9); Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 9; Pectoral fin rays: 11-13; Pelvic fin rays: I,5; Lateral line scale: 78-85; Scales above lateral line: 5.0-7.5; Scales below lateral line: 8.5-9.5. Scales on the line from posterior margin of eye to preopercular edge: 5-7; Gill rakers: 1 + 1. Body elongate, subcylindrical. Body depth: 6.2-8.3 in SL; Snout long, pointed; Posterior tip of maxilla just reaching to or extending beyond anterior nostril. Posterior tip of opercle rounded, obtuse above level of pectoral-fin base. Caudal peduncle low, moderately compressed. Caudal fin forked. Pelvic-fin origin anterior to origin of first dorsal fin. A single row of scales in the suborbital groove covered with skin. Max. length: 55.0 cm TL; Common length: 30.0 cm TL. Depth range: 5 - 200 m.
Color
Head and body dark green dorsally, silverry white below; Body with two faint yellowishbrown longitudinal stripes (when fresh); Lower stripe running through upper end of pectoral fin; Lower stripe overlapping lateral line on posterior half of caudal peduncle; First dorsal fin membrane entirely transpararent; Anal and pelvic fins transparent; Pectoral fin dusky, with a dark margin on base; Caudal fin yellow, greenish near base, entire margin dusky.
Etymology
Sphyraena: derived from the Greek, sphura = stinger, stake. Aristotle mentions the name of this fish only once (book IX - History of animals - chapter II). The name refers to the "muffle that he made like a stake".
obtusata: from Latin, obtūsus = blunt, dull, obtuse. Referring to how it lacks (or retains a slight vestige of) the pointed prominence that terminates the lower jaw in some congeners, so that the end of the jaw is obtuse.
Original description: Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier, 1829 - Type locality: Puducherry, India.
Distribution
Red Sea, Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, South Africa, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mascarenes and Persian Gulf east to Samoa, north to southern Japan and Korea, south to Lord Howe Islands and New Caledonia.
Biology
Inhabits bays and estuaries. Found in schools in seagrass beds and rocky reefs. Voracious carnivores that actively hunt small fishes. Exhibits diurnal behavior. Also caught with set nets. Sold fresh, frozen or dried salted in markets.
Similar species
- Sphyraena acutipinnis (Day, 1876) - Reported from Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, South Africa and Madagascar east to Hawaiian, Marquesas and Tuamotu islands, north to southern Japan, south to Kermadec Islands. The exact range is uncertain because of confusion of this species with three other similar species.
- Sphyraena helleri (Jenkins, 1901) - Reported from Central Pacific: Hawaiian Islands.
- Sphyraena novaehollandiae (Günther, 1860) - Reported from South coast of Australia and Tasmania.
- Sphyraena flavicauda (Rüppell, 1838) - Reported from Red Sea, Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, Seychelles, Madagascar and Persian Gulf east to Philippines and New Ireland (Papua New Guinea), north to southern Japan, south to northern Australia; Mediterranean Sea (Red Sea immigrant). Sphyraena flavicauda is more elongate than Sphyraena obtusata and differs in dorsal fin height pectoral fin length.
- Sphyraena waitii (Ogilby, 1908) - Reported from Southwestern Pacific: Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.